Ore-concentrating machine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

G. IELWOODBURY. ORE GONGENTRATING MACHINE.

No. 465,979. Patented Dec. '29, 1.891.

2 a e h S t Bu 6 h S 00 Y R U B D 0 0 W H G a d 0 M 0 ORE UONGENTRATINGMACHINE.

I Patented Dec. 29-, 1891.

II???llllIlllillllmlllllllmllllllllllllllli WITH E55 ES:

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

G. E. WOODBURY.

ORE OONOENTRATING MACHINE. No. 465,979. Patented Dec. 29, 1891.

III/II///// E977. H'. V

j. whim.-

ms mmmsrmzas co, wow-Luna, wummwu, n. c.

UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE EDXVIN WVOODBURY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

ORE-CONCENTRATING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 465,979, dated December29, 1891. Application filed March 3, 1891. Serial No. 333,633. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE EDWIN W001)- BURY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOre-Concentrating Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in ore-concentrating machines ofthe kind having endless traveling belts or aprons with vibrating orshaking motions, and more especially to improvements in thepulp-distributing apparatus and the driving mechanism that moves theendless belt along under the pulp-distribute]:

The objects sought to be attained in and by these improvements are aneven consistency of pulp and its distribution to a uniform depth uponthe surface of the belt, to prevent the pulp from banking or settlingupon the surface of the belt in portions of unequal depth, and to secureprogression of the belt without irregular or abrupt motions.

In machines of this class the separation and concentration of themetallic particles are more elfectively and completely produced inproportion as the pulp is the more evenly distributed across the face ofthe belt, and the progressive movement of the belt is the more smoothlyand regularly maintained without jerky or abrupt motions; and thereforeto secure these ends and object I have produced and constructed thefollowing parts and mechanism, which are clearly set forth in thefollowing description, and represented in the accompanying drawings inconnection with such partsof a concentrating-machine as are necessary toan explanation of the construction and operation of my improvements.

Figure 1 of the drawings herein referred to represents in side elevationthe head or feeding-in end portion of an endless travelingbelt machinewith my improvements applied to it. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view on an enlarged scale and in detail of thebelt-driving mechanism. Fig. 4

' illustrates the construction of the belt-carrying drum or head-rollerand is a longitudinal section through one end. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and10 show the parts of the pulp-distributing apparatus in detail, of whichFig. 5

shows the distributing-hopper in vertical section on an-enlarged scale.Fig. 6 is a top view with the body in section. Fig. 7 is a View inperspective of the distributing-tray. Fig. 8 is a front view of theequalizing-trough. Fig. 9 is a vertical section taken longitudinallythrough the distributing tray, and Fig. 10 is a top view of theequalizing-trough. Fig. 11 is a top view of the driving mechanism,partly in section. These parts are on an enlarged scale.

This pulp-distributing apparatus is composed of three parts, which arearranged to operate conjointly at the head of the machine over the beltor endless traveling concentrating-surface. The firstof these parts is ahopper A, open at the top and closed at the bottom. It is mounted forrotation upon a post or upright spindle B, and such motion is given toit from one of the shafts of the machine by some suitable connectingmechanism, such as a short counter-shaft C, receiving motion throughbelt and pulleys 0 G and connected by bevel-pinion C to a gear 0 on thehopper. Through this means the hopper is turned on the post withcontinuous motion.

A is a plate or disk fitting into the upper part of the hopper andprovided with an opening A on one side of the center, and A is a closedbottom having outletapertures A at intervals apart around the margin.The disk A, while it fits closely to the hopper, is stationary and doesnot turn With the hopper, but takes the end of the pulp spout orconductor through which the material for concentration is carried fromthe mill to the machine, that end of the conductor being set in theopening in the plate; or if it is set above the disk to deliver the pulpinto the hopper, then the disk is fixed in some suitable way to theconductor by a stationary part above.

Below the apertured bottom of the hopper is placed the second part D ofthe distributing apparatus, which I have termed and shall refer toherein as the equalizing-trough. Its office is to divide the pulp intostreams or separate portions of about equal quantity for distributionacross the surface of the belt,

and for such purpose it is formed with a number of diverging channels dcl, running from a common center radially outward and then forward tothe front end of the trough. The bottoms of these channels are pitchedor inclined toward the front and the higher or receiving ends arearranged in a circle, at the center of which is fixed the post B, sothat the outlet-apertures in thebottom of the hopper set directly overthe channels and pass regularly across them as the hopper rotates. Thechannels have high standing sides and are of about equal width or spacebetween the sides.

D are arms or laterally-projecting pieces on the sides of the trough, bywhich this part is fixed to stationary supports D on theconcentrator-frame. These supports D are fixed on each side of the frameand are bolted at the lower ends to the frame W, while at the upper endsare slots (1 for the projecting arms of the trough. In the presentconstruction these upright supports are utilized to carry the water-boxR, which has supplypipes R delivering into it from the main pipe R whoseconnection is fitted with suit-- able cocks, as shown, to throw thewater to box R or to waste-pipe R The third part E of the apparatus is ashallow box or tray, having its bottom divided into as many compartmentswith sloping sides as there are channels in the equalizing-tro ugh andmounted beneath the trough directly over the concentrating-belt. Thecompartments E* have sloping sides meeting at the bottom on a straightline which extends longitudinally or in the direction of the travel ofthe belt, and in each compartment thus formed the outlet-holes 6*through the bottom along the center line. The ends of the tray aresecured to the side pieces F having ears or flanges F, which rest on theside bars V of the shaking frame and are fastened to them by screws g.Thus the distributing-tray E is mounted on the frame that carries theconcentrating-belt and moves with the frame, while the equalizing-troughsupported above the tray is mounted on the lower stationary frame andhas no mot-ion of itself. As thus constructed and arranged these partsoperate to produce a uniform consistency of pulp and to feed anddistribute it regularly across the traveling belt; but to secure thebest results in concentration in these machines itis important that theprogression of the belt shall take place continuously without jerky orabrupt movements, for, as the belt, in addition to its travel, has aconstant vibratory or shaking motion either lengthwise-thatis, in thedirection of the travel-or breadthwise-that is, from side to side-it hasbeen found difficult to drive the belt smoothly without afiecting theprogressive movement or feed of the belt, as it is commonly termed. Thedriving mechanism which I have produced for this purpose is designed toovercome lost motion or the tendency of the belt to slip on the drivingor propelling drum or roller and to secure a smooth even feed of thebelt under the pulp-distributer.

It consists of a belt-carrying drum 11', an internally-toothed ring-gearI, keyed on the shaft ll of the drum, and a spur-gear K of smallerdiameter set within the ring-gear and having rolling contact andengagement with the teeth of the ring. The gear K is set on an eccentricL, which is fixed on the driver or pulley M, to which motion is givenfrom the main shaft of the machine through a system of connecting beltsand pulleys, hereinafter described. The eccentric L, moved by thatpulley, imparts to the spur-gear a peculiar motion in the ring-gear, andby the engagement of that gear the surrounding ring is given acontinuous rotary motion.

The spur-gear K is prevented from rotating by an arm L projecting fromone side of a hub K*, that is in one piece with the gear K, andtherefore it has rolling contact in the ring-gear without rotation. Theend of the arm L rests in a plate L in which it is free to slide. Thisconstruction will be understood from the detail views, Figs. 3 and 11.

Motion is transmitted to the pulley M from the principal driving-shaftXof the machine through the pulley T on that shaft, the belt T,cone-pulley T, and the intermediate pulleys S S and S, and the belt P,and to prevent the shaking motion of the movable frame V from affectingthis connection, and also to afford means for readily throwing the feedoff and on, I hang the pulley S in a swinging or tilting frame S and setin the same frame the guide-pulleys S S A handlever S 'is provided forelevating and depressing the tilting frame and locking it in eitherposition, by which means the belt P is caused to run loosely on thedriving-pulley M, or is drawn tightly and made to rotate the pulley. Thelever S is fast at the end of the tilting frame, and is held by anotched segmentplate S on the stationary frame, which notchedsegment-plate is a Well-known means for locking hand-levers on all sortsof machinery. By drawing the lever backward to elevate the outer end ofthe tilting frame it will be seen that the belt P is loosened and itwill slip on the pulley M, while the movement in the opposite directionwill draw the belt tight on the pulley. A belt-shifter T is fixed atthis end of the machine-frame for the purpose of moving the belt T onthe conepulleys T T to vary the speed. The shifterbar has a forked endembracing the belt T and moves in a slotted guide T on the stationaryframe. The speed of the concentrating-belt-is therefore varied byshifting the belt T on the cone-pulleys T T and the feed or progressionof the belt is thrown on or stopped from time to time as the work requires by moving the hand-lever S".

The machine herein described and shown in the drawings to which theseimprovements are applied has its concentrating-surface formed of anumber of narrow belts with standing edges that divide theconcentratingsurface into several narrow ways or channels,

each one receiving a proportion of the pulp from the distributingapparatus; but it should be understood that the same improvements indistribution of pulp and in mechanism for driving the concentrating-beltare applicable to any other forms of concentrator belt or surface. Theywill be found to work well With a concentrator-belt having no partitionsor strips dividing its surface into compartments.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- V 1. In anore-concentrator having an endless traveling belt orconcentrating-surface, a rotating pulp supplying hopperhavingdischarge-apertures in its bottom, an equalizingtrough having ways orchannels radiating from a center which is situated beneath the hopper,as described, to receive the pulp therefrom and divide it into separatestreams or portions, and a distributingtray having divisions orcompartments with outlets in their bottoms located between theequalizingtrough and the concentrating-belt, combined for operation asset forth.

2. In a pulpdistributing apparatus, the combination, with a rotatinghopper having discharge-apertures in its bottom arranged around thecenter on which the hopper rotates, of an equalizing-trough havingseparate ways or channels that radiate from a center directly below theoutlets of the hopper and diverge or extend laterally, as described,'todivide and distribute the pulp in streams or portions of about equalquantities, substantially as described.

3. In a pulp distributing apparatus, the combination, with thedistributing -trough having diverging ways or channels and a rotaryhopper mounted over said distributingtrough, as described, of theequalizing-tray concentrators, having a supply hopper or receptacleadapted to rotate over a trough or part having separate Ways or channelsand to distribute the pulp by its rotation into the said channels, and atray or part having spaces or compartments with outlets corresponding innumber with the said channels beneath the said channels and arranged toreceive and distribute the streams of pulp over theconcentrating-surface, substantially as described.

5. In an ore-concentrator of the kind having an endless traveling beltor ore-concentrating surface, the driving mechanism consisting of theinternally-toothed ring-gear fast on the belt-carrying drum, thespur-gear having rolling contact without rotation within said ring, aneccentric on which said spurgear is mounted, a pulley having saideccentric fast to or formed with it, and mechanism by which rotation isimparted to the said pulley from a rotating shaft on the machine,substantially as described.

6. In combination with the belt-carrying drum H, the internally-toothedring I, the spur-gear K, having rolling contact Within said ring withoutrotation, the pulley M, having an eccentric hub or part on which thegear is mounted, the belt P, tilting frame S, pulleys 'l S Scone-pulleys TT and belt T, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand andseal.

GEORGE EDWIN WOODBURY.

IVitnesses:

EDWARD E. OSBORN, CHAS. E. KELLY.

